The committee set up by President Bola Tinubu on securing Nigeria’s natural resources has restated its commitment to finding lasting solutions to insecurity, which was hampering the growth of the sector.
The committee was set up by Tinubu on Jan. 17 at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The chairman of the committee and minister of solid minerals development, Dele Alake, expressed the committee`s determination to achieve its mandate during a multi-sector engagement with key stakeholders.
In a statement issued by Mr Alake`s special assistant on media, Segun Tomori, on Friday in Abuja, the minister said the team would deliberate on modalities in achieving its mandate of producing a blueprint for securing the country’s natural resources.
“Solid minerals, marine economy, and forests all constitute Nigeria’s natural resources.
“ So, all the relevant ministers are here to deliberate on how to efficiently and effectively curtail all the atrocious, nefarious activities of either illegal mining, deforestation, or pilfering in the marine economy,” he said.
He said that the inter-ministerial committee would be expanded to include key security agencies, aimed at producing comprehensive strategies on security and forwarded to the president for appropriate action.
Mr Alake had, during a budget defence appearance before the House of Representatives committee on solid minerals on Dec. 12, 2023, decried the rate of insecurity in the mining industry, which he said was impeding the sector from generating the requisite revenue.
He said that the conservative amount of mineral deposits in the country exceeded 700 billion dollars, adding that Nigeria had not yet accessed even a quarter of its potential resources.
He also alleged that illegal miners were the sponsors of banditry and terrorism in the country.
According to the statement, other ministers at the meeting include the minister of defence, Abubakar Badaru; interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo; marine and blue economy, Gboyega Oyetola; environment, Balarabe Lawal and minister of state for police affairs, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim.
(NAN)